Former MHS star charged in thefts

September 12, 2013

MARTINSBURG - A former Martinsburg High School star quarterback who was a member of last year's state championship-winning football team is facing criminal charges in connection with two recent thefts at the school.

Justin R. "Cookie" Clinton, 18, of Litchfield Lane East, Martinsburg, was arraigned Tuesday on warrants charging him with one count of felony breaking without entering, one felony count of breaking and entering and one misdemeanor count of petit larceny in connection with thefts that allegedly occurred Aug. 29 and Sept. 3 at the school.

As of Wednesday, Clinton remains free on $22,000 bail

According to court records, the school resource officer, who is also a member of the Martinsburg City Police Department, was told by Assistant Principal Gregory Reed on Sept. 3 that $297 in cash, two checks and a set of keys to the school were stolen out of the school secretary's desk.

The incident occurred Aug. 29 after school had let out. Reed told police there was video surveillance footage of the suspect in the office exiting the school through a back hallway. Reed and football coach Dave Walker reviewed the video footage and identified the suspect as Clinton.

The video shows Clinton, who was wearing a dark hooded shirt, walk into the main office at about 7:04 p.m. Aug. 29. Clinton left the area and came back with a white T-shirt over the hooded shirt. The video shows him walk to the desk where the money was taken from before walking to the area of Reed's office. After leaving the main office, Clinton could be seen running down a back hallway into a back lobby of the school. Police researched several hours of video and found that at about 6:30 p.m., Clinton was seen in the VOTECH department peering into windows of classrooms and looking under doors wearing the dark hooded shirt.

The same day the Aug. 29 theft was discovered and reported, police were called back to the school for a report of another theft. Reed told police he had worked a soccer game and came down to his office at about 8:10 p.m., at which point he opened his desk drawer to retrieve the money bag. When he opened the bag, he discovered $1,700 was missing, records show.

Surveillance footage showed a man crawling on the floor of the main office and entering Reed's office, as well as several other offices, before crawling back out of the main office. The suspect had a hood draped over his head that obscured his face. When Reed was asked why he believed it was Clinton, he told officers that school custodians had seen Clinton upstairs in the school and identified him. The master key stolen in the Aug. 29 theft was also used by the suspect to gain entry into the offices, records show.

Trent Sherman, the school's principal, told police he believed the man in the video was Clinton. Police went to the home of Clinton's girlfriend to speak with him about the incident.

Clinton told police he was at Shepherd University taking an English class at the time of the theft. When police told him that they would call his professor to verify his story, he admitted he wasn't in class. He later told police that the money was in his bag and that he threw the bag out along the road on his way to the house, records show.

Clinton and his girlfriend retrieved the bag and handed police $307. Police asked Clinton where the rest of the money was, and he claimed another man had it. Inside the bag, police found a new iPod Touch device still in the packaging and two gray shirts with hoods. As police were getting ready to leave, the younger brother of Clinton's girlfriend walked out of the house and handed officers a large sum of money, records show.

Clinton admitted the money was the cash stolen from the school and said that he was scared. Police recovered the stolen money and items and informed Clinton that they would be obtaining a warrant charging him with breaking and entering. The total amount of money recovered was $1,693.

The stolen items were returned to the school the next day, but Reed told police that they were still missing some keys and $307. Clinton told police he didn't know anything about the items, but a few hours later they received a call from local defense attorney Kevin Mills, who said that he had spoken with Clinton, who would bring the keys and cash to his office in the morning. The remaining missing cash and keys were retrieved from Mills' office Sept. 5, records show.